The 1952 Florida Gators football team represented the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

during the

1952 college football season The 1952 college football season ended with the unbeaten Michigan State Spartans (9–0) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12–0) each claiming a national championship from different polls. Michigan State finished first according to two of the "w ...

. The season was

Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 alongside ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was ...

's third and most successful as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Woodruff's 1952 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 8–3 and a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) record of 3–3, placing sixth among twelve SEC teams.

Before the season

After Sullivan's early departure for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

left the Gators without a starting quarterback,

Doug Dickey Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, where ...

advanced from seventh on the Gators' depth chart to starter.Norm Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 61 (2007). The Gators were led by fullback

Rick Casares Richard Jose Casares (July 4, 1931 – September 13, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for twelve seasons during the 1950s and 1960s. ...

, halfback J. "Pappa" Hall, alternating quarterbacks

and Fred Robinson, and lineman

Charlie LaPradd Charles W. LaPradd (August 24, 1927 – February 1, 2006) was an American football player during the early 1950s. He played college football for the University of Florida and was recognized as an All-American as a defensive lineman. He late ...

, the Gators' lightest tackle and one of their two captains.Associated Press,
LaPradd Is Thrilled By His Selection to All America
, ''Daytona Beach Morning Journal'', p. 7 (December 6, 1952). Retrieved March 21, 2010. Also in the backfield was Buford Long.

Schedule

2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.

Season summary

Stetson

The season opened with a 33–6 defeat of the .

Georgia Tech

The national champion

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

beat Florida on a last-second field goal, 14–17.

Citadel

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

lost to Florida 33–0.

Clemson

Florida blew out the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

54–13.

Vanderbilt

On a cold

Dudley Field FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) is a American football, football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the American South, South to be used exclusively for college foo ...

, Florida lost to Vanderbilt 20–13.

Georgia

The Gators dominated rival

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

33–0 in Jacksonville, remaining the Gators' largest victory over the Bulldogs for almost forty years. Casares ran for 108 yards, kicked a field goal, and made all the extra points. Even National champion

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

needed a last-second field goal to defeat the Gators.

Auburn

The defeat of Georgia was followed by another conference victory, 31–21 over

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

Tennessee

The

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

defeated the Gators 12–26.

Miami

The Gators had another blowout of the in-state rival

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

43–6.

Kentucky

Florida defeated the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

27–0.

Postseason

The season ended with the Gators' first appearance in an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-sanctioned bowl game, a closely matched 14–13

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

victory over the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of T ...

on January 1, 1953, in which star fullback Rick Casares kicked the winning extra points for the margin of victory.Noel Nash, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois, pp. 16–18 (1998). LaPradd was All-American.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{Florida Gators football navbox

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Florida Gators football seasons Gator Bowl champion seasons

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...